Kiski Area lineman Brandon ‘Beef’ Lawhorn-Moore picks up 1st D1 offer

By: Greg Macafee
Tuesday, September 1, 2020 | 6:31 PM

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In sixth grade, Kiski Area lineman Brandon Lawhorn-Moore used to be the only student who would bring in beef jerky on Beef Jerky Friday.

Lawhorn-Moore quickly picked up the nickname “Beef” from his social studies teacher, and it has stuck.

Now “Beef,” who is a 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior tackle, can be referred to as a Division I prospect as well after announcing a scholarship offer from Buffalo on Tuesday.

“It feels nice, to get the nerves of the first offer off my shoulders and everything,” Lawhorn-Moore said. “Having my name out there now will allow more to come in. It’s really nice.”

The Kiski Area tackle, who boasts a 3.8 GPA, said the Buffalo offer came as a surprise as he hadn’t been talking with many schools before Tuesday. He said a Buffalo coach reached out to him Tuesday morning and extended the offer.

“He said that my finishing and being a good run-blocker stuck out to them,” Lawhorn-Moore said. “They liked that and basically how I get to the second level.”

While Lawhorn-Moore might have been a little surprised by the offer, Kiski Area football coach Sam Albert wasn’t. Given Lawhorn-Moore’s size, athletic ability and the type of kid he is, Albert knew schools were bound to come after him at some point.

“If you watch him, there are times where he just totally dominates,” Albert said. “His down block, his reach block and he gets to the second level as good as anyone I’ve seen, and that was as a sophomore. So he has two more years to really get better.

“I think the sky is the limit for him. I really do.”

The Cavaliers were big advocates of running the ball last year as senior Luke Lander and junior Kenny Blake combined for 1,700 yards and 15 touchdowns. Blake ran the ball 168 times for 980 yards and 11 touchdowns, including 45 carries in a 10-7 win over Mars.

Seeing his running backs step into the spotlight makes Lawhorn-Moore proud.

“That just shows that we did a great job blocking and creating lanes for him,” Lawhorn-Moore said.

Heading into his junior year, Lawhorn-Moore is looking to have an even bigger impact for the Cavaliers’ ground game. Blake is back in the backfield, and the Cavaliers have two quarterbacks with running ability.

While trying to help the team win, Lawhorn-Moore is looking to improve his game as much as he can and show college coaches his capabilities.

“I’m just focused on doing everything correctly and showing the coaches that I can play at the next level,” Lawhorn-Moore said.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Kiski Area